Sunday, April 29, 2007

Clubpets Q&A on cats

From the desk of Mama Piggy:

Excerpts from Clubpets (Issue 23, Mar to May 07):


Q: Do cats always bury their waste?

A: A subordinate cat will bury its faeces so as not to demonstrate its presence to more dominant cats. A dominant cat will leave its faeces uncovered. A cat kept on its own will bury its faeces by scratching on the litter tray. This has nothing to do with cleanliness - it is a sign that the cat feel that its owner is dominant. In households with more than one cat, you will often find that one or two cats leave their faeces uncovered, whereas the rest will cover it up.


Talk to the paw.

[Mama Piggy: Alrighty Kootoo Monster, you are pardoned. But can I tell you it is really not a pleasant sight to see you display your poop in the litter bin as though it's icing on the cake???]


Q: Do cats really sulk?

A: When you scold your cat, do you feel that he's rebuffing you or sulking by turning away? The real reason behind this is that humans are huge to a cat. When you scold him, you are intimidating him. And when you look down upon a cat to discipline him, he associates your fixed gaze with a rival. The eyes of many animals are a signal of power. In comparison to a cat's size, his eyes are enormous. In hostile situations, a dominant cat will stare at his rival, who will look away rather than increase the hostility. So when your cat turns away after disciplining, he isn't sulking; he's surrendering!


Of course I am not sulking, woman! I am not ignoring you either, you 're just insignificant! Oh wicked me!


[Mama Piggy: Hmmph, then Muffin does a mean surrendering. Have a nagging suspicion that even while they appear to be "surrendering", the KMM crew are still "buay song" (sullen) after we chide them for some misdeeds]


Q: Why do cats suddenly take off at 90 miles an hour?

A: This behaviour is seen mostly in indoor cats who are not able to burn off energy. They will dash around jumping off furniture with a wild look in their eyes. This usually occurs late at night with cats younger than five years old, but can be seen in older cats as well.



Energy conservation in progress, DO NOT DISTURB!

[Mama Piggy: I swear the House of Pigs keep flying lemurs instead of cats. Try sleeping less in the day, busters. Helping me with the housework when I am away at work would be much appreciated.]

4 comments:

cat_aunty said...

Hehehe.

I agree with the sulking part, I don't believe is "surrendering".

Kootoo's paw looks big, like those comic fists that go whoop and kapow

Singapore Community Cat said...

Chinky will be 5 cat-year this year, Mei-Mei will be 3 and Mi-Ni will be 1 plus but only Mi-Ni displays the "road runner" beep-beep phenomenon. Thanks good the tua-pui Chinky doesn't do that anyone. He used to jump from the top of sofa-chair onto to a higher level, and his back-kick even keel the chair over! If he does the "road runner" stuff now, sure kanna complaint from my downstairs neighbour of earthquake from above.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure I agree that not burying of waste is a sign of dominance. I have seen non-dominant, friendly, lone cat doing it.

Kootoo | Muffin | Milo | Mama said...

So you have a Roadrunner at home too, Vegancat? ;P I am surprised that MY neighbours have not stormed up to our unit to complain about fallen furniture and crashing household items in the dead of the night. The culprits are Kootoo and Milo.

Auntie P, perhaps the cat you observed has less than desirable toilet habits? ;)